Bitcoin scaling protocol QED has secured $6 million in a seed funding round, which began in March and concluded in April, from the single investment, Blockchain Capital.
QED’s seed round was structured using token warrants and a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE). The pricing indicates that investors are very interested in QED’s potential to improve the scalability of Bitcoin.
The founder of QD, Carter Feldman, said that it increased QED’s valuation to “nine figures,” or at least $100 million. He refused to give an exact amount.
QED has raised $10.6 million in total fundraising after the seed round. Before this, it raised $1.35 million in an angel round led by Sparkle Ventures, which is supported by Animoca Brands, and $3.25 million in pre-seed capital from Arrington Capital, StarkWare, Draper Dragon, and others.
QED seeks to improve the ecosystem’s scalability and privacy with a focus on developing zero-knowledge proof verification technologies specifically for Bitcoin Core. QED’s technology offers opportunities for scalable Web3 apps, decentralized finance (DeFi) systems, and exchanges (DEXs) leveraging its efficient transaction processing capabilities.
More than 150,000 transactions are allegedly processed every second using the QED protocol. Its goal is to establish a web of “hyper-scalable” web3 applications, including web2-scale gaming and order book exchanges, among others.
Feldman stated that while other Bitcoin scaling methods rely on a less enticing “trust me and my friends” multi-sig security approach, QED does not view them as competitors. Instead, QED sees Ethereum and its Layer 2 networks as its primary rivals because of their widely accepted security strategy among users and developers.
Feldman announced QED’s plans to launch a testnet in 3-4 months. Following community consensus, the mainnet launch will follow suit.
Additionally, QED plans to launch its native token concurrently with the mainnet deployment. Feldman claims that this coin is essential for motivating proof miners to run high-performance, high-availability infrastructure within the QED ecosystem.
QED is based in Hong Kong, employs more than thirty individuals in the Greater Bay Area, and is planning to open its first office in the United States, most likely in Texas. To help with its expansion and development, the project is now seeking positions in engineering and marketing.
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